A five fingered sweep of the hand over
exposed skin-
so warm against the cold,
the thin breeze drifting over us like a
thick april fog-
the snow outside is the painting,
and us, the subjects-
on a canvas so rich,
so dense with color,
and as beautiful as the seconds trapped
within this moment-
find your way to my deepest heart,
beneath the ancient layers of fossils and
sediment-
beyond the grand canyons and swollen
rivers-
brave the heat of rushing magma-
and traverse the many miles of open ground-
within those caverns is a living core-
free of the chains that bound it-
far from the wind that doused the flame-
find your way to my deepest heart-
burrow through the earthen crust-
and pan for the gold that lay uncovered,
unrefined,

and untouched-
see it so that it can be realized*